Enter the Matrix Stays an Formidable Film Tie-in Sport 20 Years Later

It’s time to jack again in and re-experience the film tie-in sport that attempted to be greater than only a slick commercial. There was a time when the try and safe a pipeline straight from blockbuster movies to online game releases was big, however few reached the formidable degree of Enter the Matrix. This simulation is much from good, however as Cypher so potently stated, “Ignorance is bliss.”

It was the primary sport based mostly on the long-lasting movies, however that was solely as a result of a nasty resolution had been made. The Wachowskis knew they wished a sport for his or her visionary venture set to launch in 1999 and approached Shiny Leisure, however founder David Perry believed The Matrix could be “one other hacker flick.” One thing that Perry would later inform Polygon was one in all his worst profession errors. Fortunately, the corporate would obtain a second probability and one other alternative to play on this computerized world.

As a substitute of merely performing out scenes from The Matrix Reloaded in an overblown gamified type, there was an authentic story written by the Wachowskis, who have been closely concerned within the growth of video games utilizing their world. The creators have been hands-on when it got here to overseeing some of these tasks and wished these followers that have been deep into their lore to not solely see the movie, however watch The Animatrix, learn the comics, and play the sport, all in an effort to get as many particulars concerning the story as they may. It was cross-promotional synergy at its best, and The Matrix franchise could stay unbeaten in that regard.

Enter the Matrix put gamers within the function of two characters exterior of the primary motion, however in an task that also felt very important to the heroes’ success. Choosing between Niobe (Jada Pinkett) or Ghost (Anthony Wong) supplied a set of levels with completely different paths. The duo fights the identical enemies, however in varied elements, the small print change, and deciding on one over the opposite does decide whether or not the participant handles extra driving or taking pictures. Some followers have been upset they didn’t get to play as Neo, however there’s one thing cool about being in on the bottom degree and seeing how different events have been serving to behind the scenes. 

There’s a considerable amount of live-action footage, and over an hour of it’s new to the sport, shot whereas they have been engaged on the movies and utilizing a variety of the identical actors and crew, which makes the sport extra attractive. With all of this being canon, nevertheless, it might probably make the story really feel a tad extra convoluted, and it positively means new gamers must have seen the films to really profit from the plot. Everyone seems to be welcome to enter The Matrix, however for diehard followers, the sport does add some vital story additions price noting.

It is a sport that acquired just a little wild, in a great way, loosening the belt from the films and permitting gamers to discover a few of the dirtier work from what that they had beforehand seen. The second movie noticed little bit of the ghost twins, whereas the sport allowed followers to play with the vampires and werewolves extra, in addition to discover motion sequences that Reloaded didn’t take the time to indicate. 

Enter the Matrix tried to boost the bar for film video games

Enter the Matrix was making an attempt to start out a development, set a brand new bar for the place motion pictures and video video games may very well be married, at the very least inside the realms of character, story, and expertise. Gamers use martial arts, weapons, and the Focus means to decelerate time and watch bullets fly by, all whereas wearing modern hacker apparel. The world mimics the films whereas Brokers really feel like an actual menace (at first anyway), and the drive to see extra of the story and cutscenes strikes us ahead. Essentially the most memorable function although could be the hacking-based cheat system, the place customers can entry the mostly-forgotten multiplayer and make the most of DOS instructions for varied results.

It doesn’t matter what caught out essentially the most, the sport was extremely welcomed upon launch, promoting fairly effectively and making means for an additional installment in a while. Enter the Matrix could be rereleased as a price range title, and a few variations have been even barely revamped with new mini-games. Every model of the sport had points and attention-grabbing bugs, however not one of the releases escaped with out some type of efficiency downside. For many, nevertheless, the PS2 providing appeared to supply the most effective general expertise.

As pleasant and artistic as Enter the Matrix was, there have been a variety of issues. The traditional controls work effective and look strong in lots of situations, however they are often sluggish and assaults will not be snappy when coping with a number of opponents, which is made worse by typically horrible AI, inflicting the enemies to both be too straightforward to defeat or ridiculous to hit. Driving and on-rail shootings sections may be irritating and really feel tacked on whereas melee encounters are missing and degree design comes throughout as uninspired aside from trying the half. It does supply varied modes within the gameplay, which required a number of engines, and that is one case the place a extra streamlined expertise was more than likely wanted. Even Perry stated the crew, “bit off just a little greater than we might chew,” and in some instances have been growing for platforms they weren’t precisely accustomed to.  

Although the sport apparently spent over two years in growth, the discharge date was set in stone to coincide with the movie. Enter the Matrix had positives for positive, the place the entire bundle nonetheless managed to return collectively even when a number of facets fall brief, however a variety of these successes hinged on the IP it represented, and this batch of code might have used some extra time in manufacturing. Lead Programmer for the sport, Michael “Saxs” Persson, stated to Polygon, “Regardless of who you ask, Enter the Matrix was like Dante’s seven ranges of Hell,” which appears just a little harsh, nevertheless it feels like this wasn’t a straightforward manufacturing interval, irrespective of how a lot enjoyment gamers could have gotten out of it.

Some critics felt that the sport cheapened the film, however I don’t see that in any respect. In truth, Enter the Matrix could have suffered barely for having to make the story slot in with the films when that was the strongest facet of the entire bundle. The sport isn’t fairly equal in its elements, some parts are epic, others are awkward, however its power lies in what it was, an formidable program that sought to provide main followers one other probability to enter the simulation.